You Can’t Control Everything That Happens in Your Life, But You Can Control the Way You React to It
If we took a step back and realized that we can’t control everything that happens in our lives, what would happen?
You might think that you can control everything in your life, but the truth is, the things that we do and say have an impact on the people around us.
We can choose to react negatively or positively to what’s happening in our lives, and that has an impact on how we feel about ourselves and others.
So, it’s important to learn how to control our reactions and readjust our behavior in order to get the most out of life.
How do we react to things that aren’t under our control?
There are two basic ways we react to things that aren’t under our control: positive and negative. And the way that we react to our life situations is generally the same as how we react to other people.
Whenever there’s a change in our environment, whether it’s a new job, getting married, having kids or moving thousands of miles away from home, there can be a huge impact on how we feel about ourselves.
The first thing you do when something changes is to ask yourself if you’re okay with it. This can be stressful because sometimes you have little control over what happens in your life.
But even though you might not have full control over the situation, you can still learn how to manage your reactions and handle the negative ones better.
So how do we manage our reactions? We need to think about ourselves first and address any self-doubt before thinking about others’ feelings.
For example, if your co-worker announces she’s pregnant right after making an important decision involving her career and family, would you care if she felt sad or stressed?
When we react in a negative way, does it affect us positively or negatively?
Let’s say you’re about to go on a date with someone. It’s been a while since you’ve seen that person and you want to find out what they look like. You think back to their photos and it’s hard not to notice how attractive they are.
You picture yourself going on a date with them and feel very happy knowing that if things work out, you will be able to have this wonderful experience.
Does this feeling of happiness last? Of course not! The moment you realize that your feelings are negative, the feeling goes away right away.
In other words, your positive feelings don’t stay positive forever — they can change just as quickly as they began in the first place.
Can we learn how to control our reactions?
By controlling your reactions and adjusting your behavior, you can learn how to control your life.
By learning how to control our reactions, we can become more in tune with the things that make us happy and get more of what makes us feel good about ourselves.
Control is not just about action but also thinking. If you try to control everything all the time, then your actions will be automatic. You won’t apply any effort or thought into what you do because you’ve learned so quickly.
The same goes for emotions: If you try to always have a positive reaction, then when something doesn’t go according to plan, you’ll automatically react negatively — rather than think before acting.
What does it mean when we adjust our behavior?
In order to understand what adjusting your behavior means, you need to understand the concept of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is one of the most important aspects of life.
It helps us learn how to cope with different emotions and handle them in a positive way. When you’re able to recognize when a negative emotion is taking hold, that’s when it’s time to react differently and act on it in a positive way.
If we choose not to react or adjust our behavior based on our emotional state, we can find ourselves becoming stuck in a rut — we get stuck in our ways and end up going down the wrong path for no reason.
If you want to improve your emotional intelligence, then setting appropriate boundaries will go a long way towards improving the situation.
You don’t have to be perfect or even do everything perfectly all the time, but if you keep impressing yourself that you’re doing things right, then it won’t be so hard getting yourself out of those ruts and into an improved mental state every day.
What if we took a step back and realized that we can’t control everything that happens in our lives?
Wait! Before You Go
Please consider donating Crystal (me) a tip if you enjoy reading these kinds of stories and want to support me as a writer. It would mean the world to me.
Not yet a Medium Member? Join now with my referral link: and I’ll earn a small commission at no additional cost to you, and you can also start earning today from your stories! It’s just $5 a month and you will have unlimited access to medium stories.
If you enjoyed this article, you may also like:
